anyone want to buy a $250K snow melter that doesn’t work and just sits all year long in a garage on Elliot St? But have no fear we see the old way back in use front end loaders and dump trailers, at least the salty water ain’t going down the storm drain into the Charles.. you ain’t seen nothing yet – your tax dollars not at work..

The price of real estate EVERYWHERE is out of control. And the same can be said for the price of rental property. I have lived in Newton my entire life, work for the City and make a decent living yet I can not even think of buying a home and can barely afford the rent in my little apartment.
I have lived in my place for over 20 years but in the last few years, the landlord has raised the rent yearly by $100.00 a month. This past summer he turned control of his properties over to his whipper snapper real estate hotshot grandson who promptly raised my rent yet again by $100.00. The letter was short and sweet. Rent is going up due to “competition in the market.”
I am a single person, no kids and live a quiet life. I don’t bother my landlord for anything except major repairs (there have been none) or for new appliances. 20 Years!. Where is the loyalty? I’d move except affordable housing that is within striking distance of Newton is non-existent!
So the answer is Yes! Real Estate prices are out of control.

Emily, Harry Sanders is probably right, that our expensive snow eating dragon is at Elliot, just blocks from the Charles. The machine needs a dedicated storm drain. Is that drain going into the Charles where Newton has outlets? And in terms of other environmental concerns, exactly how much fuel does it take to melt snow in the same fashion that the sun melts it over time? This dragon doesn’t feel like it would pass any green standard and is meant only to stop the letters from a few homeowners about snow mounds on public property near them. An article about this new machine would be an interesting read

Didn’t we buy that in response to that winter a few years ago when the snow never melted and our roads were 1/2 as wide and you couldn’t see around any corner? Also, a few people were hit by cars when crossing roads at crosswalks because nobody could see anything? Keep the Monster thing. Get it a drain. I’m glad we have it.

I have seen it in use after the first snow storm in December. It was in the parking lot of Forte Field melting snow that was being brought there by the City trucks. (For those not familiar…Forte Field is along the Charles River, in the rear of the McDonalds on California St)

I thought they were not going to be melting snow near sport Fields? Oh – Forte is on the North Side so that is OK – or is it because it is hidden down a street so that it wasn’t so noticeable they were doing that? So all the snow with salt and sand went into the Charles River?

TWT – You stated that you saw them melting snow at Forte Field – So after the machine melted the snow did they cart the liquid away or just let it melt into the field and into the charles? I could be wrong but would highly doubt they would cart the snow there, melt it and then cart the liquid away.

What Emily said…
They were not near the water’s edge at all but I’m also not sure it makes a difference. Doesn’t it all end up in the same place eventually?
I heard later today that the reason the machine is not being used is because there is a leak in the water tank and the DPW workers are refusing to use it citing a “safety hazard”.
Someone needs to explain this one to me!